The present invention relates to an automated manufacture line including a plurality of multi-stage connected automatic working devices controlled by a host controller device, and more particularly to an automated manufacture line suitable for the execution of an arrangement (or preparatory) control of a process such as the temperature condition and the operating speed of each automatic manufacturing device which control is required in, for example, a manufacture line in which printed-wiring boards are continuously assembled and different types or kinds of printed-wiring boards are to be manufactured. Also, the present invention relates to a control method for such an automated manufacture line.
A printed-wiring board manufacturing line as an automated manufacture line for manufacturing different types of products includes an equipment called a loader for loading or installing a board to be processed, an equipment called an unloader for taking out or unloading a processed board, and various processing equipments as automatic working devices for board assembly such as a dispenser, a chip mounter, an SOP mounter, an adhesive curing oven and a solder bath which are placed between the loader equipment and the unloader equipment through equipments called connection converyors. Therefore, when the type of products to be manufactured is changed, most of processing equipment included in the automated manufacture line must be subjected to arrangements which are made for the adaptation of their functions to the type of products to be newly manufactured and include, for example, the positional change of a board guide in each processing equipment, the change of a mounting program and/or the change of components to be mounted.
A method of making such arrangements relied upon human efforts in the past. In recent years, however, so-called automatic arrangements using a computer have widely been made.
The conventional automatic arrangement method includes a method, as shown in FIG. 1, in which a centralized control computer 30 for assembly line control is provided for all of equipments in an assembly line including a loader 10, a dispenser 11, a chip mounter 12, an SOP mounter 13, an adhesive curing oven 14, a solder bath 15, an unloader 16 and connection conveyors 17 to 22 and this equipment is controlled by the computer 30 in a centralized manner to make the arrangements and a method, as shown in FIG. 2, in which computers 32 to 43 interconnected by a LAN 50 are provided independently for the respective equipments to make the arrangements by a decentralized control.
As techniques relevant to the above-mentioned technique is disclosed by JP-A-61-218200 and JP-A-1-297897. Furthermore in U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,812, an electronic parts assembling device assembles electronic parts into a plurality of printed circuit board of various sizes and shapes.
The above-mentioned automatic working devices installed at the scene of production were developed with a view to independent use of each device. However, as an integrated production system or combined industrial machine (CIM) aimed at the improvement of a production efficiency is developed, a demand for the development of an automatic manufacturing system adapted to the CIM is made at the present time. In order to cope with this demand, an automated manufacture or production line including automatic working devices using an external computer has been developed. More especially, an automated manufacture line or automatic manufacture system with data being transmitted between automatic working devices and an external computer has come into wide use.
However, information transmitted in such a system is limited to component insertion data in an automated component inserter as disclosed by JP-A-63-232911 or production control information inclusive of the operating time of an automatic working device, the number of products, the number of times of occurrence of error (or the error frequency), and so on as disclosed by JP-A-63-52959. Namely, such information is limited to data which can be produced even by ordinary workers other than skilled workers or data which has already been managed and possessed independently by an automatic working device.
In regard to control data supplied from a host controller to each automatic working device, JP-A-57-109007 discloses a technique in which control data of the automatic working device is corrected in a real time when the control data contains an error. Also, JP-A-62-19969 discloses a technique of making up a printed board round-portion definition library to improve the CAD efficiency. Further, JP-A-62-128365 discloses a technique of making a batch control or management of component data to improve the CAD efficiency.
In the conventional automated manufacture line or system shown in FIG. 1 in which the arrangement are made in the centralized control manner, the centralized control computer 30 must control all of equipments for which the arrangements are required. Therefore, there is a problem that computer capable of performing a high-speed processing is required, thereby giving rise to an increase in cost.
Also, in this system, an arrangement instruction is given or issued from the computer 30 to each equipment at a timing based on either a method in which the instruction is given to the equipments simultaneously or a method in which the instruction is given sequentially in order of process starting from the leading equipment in the automated manufacture line. The former method or simultaneous instruction method involves a problem that the issuance of the next instruction requires a wait for the unloading of all printed boards from the automated manufacture line and the waiting time brings causes a deterioration in efficiency in the case of small-lot production. On the other hand, the latter method or process-sequential instruction method involves a problem that an advanced programming and a high-precision board carry technique are required since the issuance of the arrangement instruction should be timed to the carry of the boards.
In the conventional system of FIG. 2 based on the decentralized control manner, a method of giving an arrangement instruction simultaneously to equipments is not almost used unlike the conventional system of FIG. 2. In other words, a method of giving an arrangement instruction in compliance with the carry of a board is widely employed. Therefore, each of the computers 31 to 43 needs no very large capacity. However, there is a problem that a programming further advanced in comparison with the centralized control system is required since the tracking of data concerning the type of kind of each board to be manufactured in compliance with the carry of the board in the automated manufacture line is required between the computers 31 to 43.
The system shown in FIG. 2 involves a further problem that the cost is increased since a change in software for tracking is required each time any automatic working device in the automated manufacture line is replaced by another one or an automatic working device is newly added or removed and since the same number of computers as the automatic working devices are required.
As for the arrangement control in the actual production line, there has greatly been desired the development of a system which can teach further effective information, that is, knowledge, information, know-how or the like concerning the running of automatic working devices (hereinafter referred to as working condition) acquired from the experience of a skilled worker to an inexperienced worker and hence a system in which even an ordinary inexperienced worker can operate, maintain and control the automatic working devices on an equal level with a skilled worker.
In general, an numerical control (NC) program for automatic work supplied to each automatic working device is produced by a host computer and is transmitted in an on-line or off-line fashion to the automatic working device. On the automatic working device side, however, the raw NC program produced by the host computer cannot be used as it is, due to an error in dimension or rotation angle peculiar to the device, an error characteristic of an object (or printed board) or the other reason. Accordingly, the produced NC program is tentatively used on the automatic working device side prior to the actual use thereof so that fine correction for removing any practical inconvenience is made to the NC program.
The above-mentioned prior art reference or the JP-A-57-109007 discloses the correction of an NC program. However, whether or not a stored program is a corrected one is unclear. This is very inconvenient to a program control. Namely, if an uncorrected program is erroneously used, the yield of automatic work is greatly deteriorated or the work must be done again. Therefore, when it is unclear whether or not a certain program is a corrected program, it is necessary to check that program again. This re-checking greatly deteriorates the efficiency cf arrangements when the work is to be starred.
Also, in the convention system, when an NC program for boards of a certain type had been corrected and used but boards of the same type is to be manufactured after a time from the correction, there may be the case where the corrected program is erased from a storage. This is because there is not a storage means having a sufficient capacity. In that case, the same correction must be made again on the automatic working device or equpment side, thereby deteriorating the efficiency.